


f*ck you too, winter

by hoars



Series: taekaisoo because [4]
Category: EXO (Band), SHINee
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Fraternity, Alternate Universe - No Band, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Fluff and Crack, Hot Mess Shinee, Language, M/M, Other, Polyamory, WIP
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 11:41:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15684723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoars/pseuds/hoars
Summary: Winter is the worst.(The fic with a cursed apartment, a displaced fraternity, and horrible flirting.)





	f*ck you too, winter

**Author's Note:**

> I have been working on this fic since 2016. (The same year I had the winter experience from hell.) I'm shoving it into the world before it's finished because I love it. 
> 
> I took a lot of liberties with how the education system work in S.K.
> 
> I also experimented with different writing styles, sooo sorry in advance?

The day Lee Taemin moves into apartment #D16 is not a winter day. It's a day made hot by humidity as the climate hovers between summer and fall. The street is decent with little stores and restaurants abound. It's the type of place pretending to be gentrified, and it's lying.

Not that anyone could tell from the outside. #D16 has a warped kitchen floor that made Kibum close his eyes and say a prayer, while Minho keeps repeating, “It's not that bad." There’s also a water stain that Jinki and Jonghyun are arguing about, whether it looks like either a kitten or puppy in Taemin's bedroom.

It’s a little dark due the olive-green walls with gray trim and the severe lack of windows. There's three windows in the entire apartment. The apartment could fit in his old one with room to spare, and the floor looks like it survived a recent flood but only just barely. It’s not what anyone would call ideal but--

Taemin knew from the start that what five guys could afford and what three guys can afford is radically different, and he's seen some shit show apartments in the past. The city seems to deem any dwelling that has working water and lights as livable, and the various landlords charged through the nose. This one is in his budget and there's two rooms. He's going to get his own room after semi sharing a room with Jonghyun for two years.

It's exciting to be somewhat on his own.

That's not to say he doesn't love his friends. He does. But Jinki is in grad school. Jonghyun and Kibum have real jobs. Minho is chasing his dream. Taemin feels silly as the youngest to still be attending university.

“So, I was looking through the bathroom cabinet and you have mold,” Jonghyun says, his smile strained.

Kibum makes a wound sound like Taemin is purposely trying to break his heart with a, uh, _colorful_ apartment.

Minho pats his Kibum on the back. “It's going to be okay. Shhh.”

Jinki smiles at Taemin while ignoring everyone else.

“A little mold is fine,” Jinki says. “Some bleach will fix it.”

Taemin smiles back. Jinki is his new favorite. Never mind that who his favorite rotates every couple of days.

“Uh, Jinki, can I show you something real quick?” Jonghyun asks, maintaining the same strained smile.

Jinki smiles, calmly, and he follows Jonghyun into the bathroom.

“You have pets,” Minho says.

“What?” Taemin frowns.

He sets the box of kitchenware down to see what Minho is staring at, and huh. Taemin doesn't know how to feel about the tiny brown bug by the sink. Minho gently turns his jaw and okay, Taemin feels grossed out. There's more of the brown bugs skittering across the counter tops.

“You have cockroaches,” Kibum says, like of course Taemin has cockroaches because Taemin hasn't made him cry enough yet.

“Jonghyun and I need to go to the store,” Jinki says as comes back into the room. There's fierce determination on his face. “No one go in the bathroom until I say so.” He follows all their gazes to the cockroaches and smiles grimly, “Bleach can fix that, too.”

Jinki might expect a little much out of a bottle of bleach, but Taemin expects a lot from Jinki, so these things sometimes happen.

“At least it's not rats,” Minho says.

“I'm going to unpack your room,” Kibum says, stiffly, and he walks past Taemin with his head held high.

Taemin sighs and does his best not to sprawl on the counter and whine to Minho. Primarily because he doesn't know how cockroaches are born just that they're bad and what if they're born in shit? He doesn't need that on his face.

He still whines at Minho: “How long do you think he's going to be mad?”

He told Kibum in late May he wanted to move out and Kibum only started speaking to him in July for his birthday.

It’s been a rough couple of months with Kibum acting as passive aggressive shit. Jinki, Jonghyun, and Minho made terrible buffers since Kibum and Taemin being on the outs was practically unheard of. Ever since the four agreed to let Taemin move in when he was seventeen approaching eighteen, Taemin was Kibum’s favorite. Needless to say, no one knew how to behave.

“He has finals, Ki! He doesn’t have time for your shit!” was Jonghyun’s favorite thing to shout at Kibum in May when Kibum was least expecting it.

(Perhaps in hope he’d be more receptive to it? It was fine. Really. Somehow, Jinki ended up helping Taemin study with Kibum’s notes from when he had the same professor. Taemin’s relief could have been from the delivery of notes or it could have been from knowing Kibum didn’t hate him. He'll never tell.)

Minho had given Taemin a lot of inspirational pep talks.

It was weird.

If the acting thing doesn’t work out for him, Minho should so be a high school gym teacher.

“If you actually answer his texts? Maybe only a couple of days,” Minho considers.

“I am not texting him I’m fine every morning,” Taemin says, sternly. “My mom isn’t even that bad.”

Minho looks warily at Taemin’s room and then motions Taemin closer. Three years of Minho dishing dirt on the weird behaviors of the other three makes Taemin lean in close. Minho, Taemin notices, smells suspiciously like Kibum’s bodywash. Taemin should savor this moment. Minho will be dead when Kibum finds out.

“You know how Ki acts around finals? He used to act like that all the time. After you moved in he mellowed out a lot. It was a back to school miracle. We think he decided to focus on looking out for you, so he wouldn’t focus so much on stressful things,” Minho whispers, keeping both eyes on Taemin’s bedroom doorway. “Jonghyun is already trying to figure out how we’re all going to survive the transition period.”

“Ah,” Taemin says. That makes absolutely no sense to him, but Minho has known Kibum longer. Kibum around finals isn’t bad. He locks himself in his room to study, and he only really loses his temper when there’s no coffee made when he comes out of his room for a fix.

“You’ll see,” Minho continues to whisper, somewhat ominously.

“Taemin!” Kibum yells from his bedroom. “Did you seriously pack dirty clothes?”

“They’re not dirty!” Taemin protests. “I only wore them a few times!”

Kibum comes out of Taemin’s room glaring and holding a few of Taemin’s shirts and jackets. He shakes them. “Really? This has food on it.” Kibum throws them on the ground. “I’ll wash them and bring them by later. _God,”_ and he disappears back into the bedroom.

Taemin feels like maybe he should be in there, it is his room, but his self-preservation is screeching, “No!!! You didn’t listen to me about sashimi but you better fucking listen now!”

He stays put.

“The next few weeks are going to be hell,” Minho groans. He punches Taemin’s shoulder, and ow. Not everyone drinks protein shakes with all three meals. “This is your fault.”

“Sorry?” Taemin asks, rubbing his shoulder.

“You should be,” Minho agrees. “When are your roommates moving in?”

They both look around the apartment. It’s sparsely decorated as of yet, since only Taemin has moved in. There’s the various kitchenware that Taemin claimed for himself, and then what Jonghyun claimed they didn’t need and insisted Taemin pack. Jinki decided he didn’t like the coffee table and it had to go, and really, Taemin would be doing him a favor by taking it. Kibum went shopping one afternoon and came back with a new couch, claiming the old one clashed with his new color scheme. And Minho gave Taemin a computer desk for his very “special” twentieth birthday. Taemin would call bullshit, but he’d been too busy feeling horribly guilty for leaving his tiny family to protest.

“A week after classes start,” Taemin says. “They said something about getting their frat brothers to help.”

“Oh? What frater--”

“Honeys, we’re baaaack,” Jonghyun sings.

Him and Jinki come through the door with a large bottle of bleach in each of Jinki’s hands and two buckets filled with gloves, masks, and scrubbers in Jonghyun’s. Jonghyun beams at them playfully and he shoves a bucket at Taemin.

“Wipe down the kitchen,” Jonghyun instructs.

“But I just moved in! It’s not dirty yet,” Taemin protests. He looks at the items in the bucket, and the spray bottle is out of place. Taemin might not always pick up on social cues, but he was awesome at those ‘what doesn’t belong’ games. “Why do I have a spray bottle?”

“You fill it with bleach,” Jinki says, and uh oh. Taemin resists the urge to shrink back. That’s Jinki’s war face. It’s Jinki’s response to unpleasant things that he feels the need to power through. “And you spray it at the cockroaches to kill them.”

Taemin is starting to think the discount the landlord offered for dealing with cockroaches, mold, and a warped floor isn’t worth it.

_But two bedrooms in the city._

It takes hours for the apartment to reach his friends’ habitable standards, and everything smells of bleach. But Jinki is smiling serenely again, and Jonghyun has an arm around Kibum’s shoulders, trying to convince Kibum that Taemin will be fine. Kibum even seems to be believing Jonghyun which is progress. Minho nudges Taemin’s shoulder with a comforting grin.

“We have to return the rental truck,” Jinki says. “But if you need anything, let us now, okay? You’re going to be fine!”

He hugs Taemin around the shoulders in the way that never fails to make Taemin curious if this was what it was like to have an older brother. (If so, Taemin’s committed a few acts of incest, the only reason he refuses to claim all four as his brothers. There’s been too many one-night stands where maybe something happened, or maybe Taemin and his plus one decided to sleep in the nude. Plausible deniability.) Taemin’s lets himself be squeezed, and he doesn’t even tease when Jinki kisses the top of his head.

“Have a good night, asshole,” Jonghyun says, and he hugs Taemin affectionately. If Taemin clings a little bit, no one, least of all Jonghyun, will call him on it.

“You too,” Taemin doesn’t sniff, hoping that his tone carries the insult, too.

He doesn’t have a death wish to call Jonghyun an asshole to his face, but Taemin refuses to take shit without giving it back. Taemin performs very, very small rebellions when it comes to this bunch.

“Way to break up the band,” Minho teases.

Minho pulls him in for a hug, too, and he isn’t going to cry or cling. Minho will so tease him later. He’s a good friend like that.

“I moved a couple of streets,” Taemin grumbles. “Not across the country.”

“Exactly, so I’m not hugging you,” Kibum glowers. “That’s ridiculous. You’re coming over for dinner later, anyways.” With a huff and laundry basket on his hip, Kibum stalks out of the apartment.

(Taemin’s hurt, and the other guys pat him in sympathy, but when Taemin calls later that night freaked out at the strange noises his new home makes, it’s Kibum who comes over to stay with him.)

 

 

 

 

 

The reason Jongin and Kyungsoo need to find somewhere to live is a memorable one -- their frat house burnt down.

Kyungsoo doesn’t remember part of that night, but he remembers enough. 

He remembers very clearly that he had been studying at the library because sports ~~were fucking boring and a waste of his time~~ were whatever and he was doing terrible in his math class. It started slowly. Other studying students began to receive phone calls, and it made him curious. Finally, a student shouted for everyone in the library to check the news.

Kyungsoo used his phone and there was a riot on campus.

~~What the fuck. He knew he would have gone to the other school. First, he joins Sigma Mu thinking he's making a good decision for his future only to discover it's a frat full of shit heads that haven't heard of cirrhosis or air neutralizers. Holy shit. Second, his bitch of a calculus teacher is out to get him, she even admitted it because _fucking Sigma Mu_ and he knew he should have taken Liberal Arts math and been done with it, but no. He had to please his damn parents. Well, they can go fuck themselves. Now this shit?! Riots cost everyone fucking money and they're stupid, although, Kyungsoo understands why. This school is fucking stupid that it hasn't done anything noteworthy in the past decade, except maybe that incident on sorority row.~~

All because their lameass school that hasn’t won shit in ten years made it into the playoffs or whatever.

It didn’t occur to Kyungsoo that with the frat house being so close to campus that it would be on a list of targets. At least not until he got a phone call from a shrill Joonmyeon demanding he come home _right now._ Which Kyungsoo did.

Up to this point, Kyungsoo still remembers things pretty well.

He watched the frat house be devoured by flames with the rest of his brothers across the street. He remembers how stunned he felt that the house was actually burning down. It seemed like a bad dream.

  ~~The motherfucking house was burning the fuck down. What is reality. How do these things actually fucking happen? Does the universe hate him?~~

“I don’t get it,” Yifan mourned with his knees on the lawn. “We won. Why would they burn our house down for winning?”

“I’m so happy I’m graduating this year,” Minseok echoed the sentiment, kind of.

~~Kyungsoo wished he was graduating. This is bullshit.~~

Minseok’s last fuck seemed to be the frat house burning down.

“It’s a miracle we all got out safely,” Yixing said.

~~Kyungsoo can think of a few people he wouldn't mind dying in a fire.~~  

The air was thick with befuddlement and grief. It's about this point that the house began to whistle. ~~Why the fuck was the house whistling?~~  Everyone took a second to stop mourning the loss of their house and belongings to stare in disbelief as _fireworks_ began to explode in the house. Collectively, everyone's heads move to stare at Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Jongdae.

THEY'RE FUCKING DEAD. THOSE STUPID DUMB FUCKS SERIOUSLY KEPT FIREWORKS IN THEIR DAMN ROOM AND NOW EVERYTHING IS DESTROYED, AND EVERYONE IS HOMELESS THOSE JACKASSES! DEAD! HE'S GOING TO TEAR THEM APART WITH HIS BARE HANDS. OF ALL THE STUPID THINGS TO DO! ALL HIS SHIT IS GONE. CLOTHES. POSTERS. HIS FAVORITE STUFFED ANIMAL. HIS GODDAMN AND INSANELY EXPENSIVE TEXTBOOKS AND FLASH DRIVES AND--

This is where Kyungsoo's memory blanked, but Sehun said it took him and Jongin to pull Kyungsoo off Chanyeol. ~~Those son of a bitches had fireworks in their room! It was just like when they brought bed bugs into the house because of that fucking couch!~~ Zitao had a hell of a time making Yifan let go of Jongdae, and even freely admitted to Kyungsoo he wasn't trying very hard. Joonmyun had been the one to try making Baekhyun eat grass while yelling, “My fucking collection was in there!”  Yixing was tasked with making sure Joonmyun didn't kill Baekhyun because Minseok and Luhan had been busy shouting encouragement.

Kyungsoo comes back to his senses in a packed jail cell with his frat brothers.

And this is about where Kyungsoo lost his last fuck.

He remembers that pretty damn well.

This is how Kyungsoo and Jongin come to live with Lee Taemin at #16D.

The apartment is awful, but Kyungsoo wasn't expecting much. The alumni have put most of their donations towards building them a new house and bribing everyone to keep the frat from being disbanded or suspended. Good riddance. Not a lot of money could go towards rent, but honestly, knowing Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Jongdae live in a similar shitty situation upstairs is enough to make him not give a fuck.

The cockroaches don't even bother him.

Jongin had been horrified.

At the apartment or their new sexy roommate Kyungsoo isn't sure.

Kyungsoo knows of Lee Taemin. They’re both third years, and he thinks they might have ~~they did~~ share a few classes in the past. ~~He's a boy that's made Kyungsoo list of Things That are Beautiful.~~ He’s a pretty boy that used to hang out primarily with upperclassmen, so their social circles never overlapped. Essentially, he’s not someone Kyungsoo expected to live with, but he also never expected he would need to have assault charges against him dismissed either.

The world is a funny place.

~~And by funny he means fucked up.~~  

Not as funny as Jongin's face when Taemin unlocked and answered the front door dripping wet in nothing but clingy boxers but still funny. ~~Jongin's face had been pretty fucked up, too, and Kyungsoo won't admit it, but a wet Taemin is something Kyungsoo thinks is worth the frat house burning down over. Holy shit.~~

“Hey,” Taemin greeted them at the door. “I'm going to finish my shower.”

“Oh no,” Jongin whimpered as they both watched him leave.

~~That _ass._~~  

“I wonder why he showers with the bathroom door open,” Kyungsoo mused.

Jongin is first to discover why Taemin showers with the door open.

“Kyungsoo! I'm stuck in the bathroom!” Jongin yelps into the phone. 

~~It's too late for this shit, Jongin. It's night time and I have important things to do like get off before you get out of the shower. Why did I let Joonmyun convince me to be your roommate? I wanted Yixing. Damn it. It's like rooming with a toddler.~~

Kyungsoo rubs his eyes tiredly, but he goes to check the bathroom door. He tries to open it and nothing. ~~What the fuck.~~ He frowns and tries a little harder and still nothing.

~~Fine. Jongin can just die in the bathroom. He's going back to bed and imagine pretty boy in his wet boxers and get off, so he can go the fuck to sleep.~~

“Kyungsoo,” Jongin whimpers. “I think I’m cursed.” 

Kyungsoo sighs.

Fine, then.

“Jongin, move away from the door,” Kyungsoo instructs.

It's with two years of experience at slamming his shoulder into doors that unsticks the bathroom door. Living at the frat house was always ~~an exercise in patience~~ interesting. He had to learn because the dumb fucks he called brothers had a bad habit of locking themselves in their rooms when they were crossfaded.

He stumbles into the bathroom, and he's unsurprised by how steamy it is. Jongin did always steal the hot water at the house, too. ~~The only reason Kyungsoo never put him in a headlock is because--~~ He blinks at Jongin who stands in the bathtub with his towel clutched tightly closed, his muscular chest and stomach exposed as well as his arms and calves. ~~Yeah, that’d be why Kyungsoo never told Jongin off about stealing all the hot water. The gym is really paying off for Jongin.~~

“What's going-- Oh!” Taemin begins to ask, no doubt curious about the noise. He smiles sheepishly at Kyungsoo and then Jongin. ~~He’s really pretty. Why does the universe put pretty people in front of Kyungsoo?~~ “I knew I forgot to mention something. The door sticks. My friend said it was the steam. I guess the wood swells?”

Of course, it does.

“If I told you that you had a great body, would you hold it against me?” Taemin adds, eyes following the same path that Kyungsoo did.

Jongin manages a strangled, “What?”

Kyungsoo sighs deeply, again.

Story of his life right there.

So, everyone starts showering with the door open.

~~Kyungsoo doesn't exactly disapprove. Taemin is shameless and delicious to look at. He usually starts undressing on the way to the bathroom and usually leaves his bedroom door open, too. “Like what you see?” Taemin winked once, doing a body roll that made Kyungsoo stare and Jongin stop breathing. That was an invitation. Kyungsoo doesn't even bother hiding the fact he knows the color of Taemin's nipples. Jongin is shy and his blush extends everywhere, but he needs to get dressed somewhere. The bathroom or bedroom so either way...~~  

Kyungsoo doesn't buy into Taemin's theory that the apartment is cursed, although Jongin does embarrassingly quick. ~~Another pretty but dumb one.~~

Kyungsoo takes to killing the cockroaches with the bleach when he's bored ~~, he named them all Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Jongdae,~~ and it's not long before they disappear for days at a time. The warped kitchen floor is easy to ignore. It's not like he has to sleep on it. (And he doesn't know about the slowly growing water stain in Taemin's room.) It's all inconvenient, but it doesn't make Jongin cursed. Where he got the idea confuses Kyungsoo, but the guy hangs out with Sehun and Zitao on purpose. He’s odd.

And then winter sets in.

~~The universe can fuck winter sideways.~~

 

 

 

 

 

#16D is a relief to step into, Jongin thinks, happy for the warmth washing over him. The apartment is a pleasant temperature while outside forgot all about easing into winter and decided to shock the city with temperatures under 30°F. It makes Jongin like the place a little bit. 

(This place is terrible, and he hates it. Hates it so much. The only upsides are Taemin and Kyungsoo.)

“We can't afford to keep it this warm,” Kyungsoo ruins as Jongin peels off his layers.

Stunned, Jongin lets “Why?” pop out of his mouth.

Sitting on the floor next to Kyungsoo’s legs with his face pressed against the coffee table, Taemin groans. Jongin tries not to think about other sounds Taemin might be capable of, and instead looks back to Kyungsoo. Ever since the fire, Kyungsoo has been impossible to ruffle. (It's kind of super attractive. He should tell Sehun.) The fire stole a lot of people's last fuck, not just Minseok’s.

Jongin ignores his (ever present Catholic) guilt for the folded paper Kyungsoo holds out to him.

“Look.”

It makes Jongin gasp, and maybe it's a good thing Joonmyeon insisted Jongin live with Kyungsoo instead of Sehun. Sehun would have mocked him about being a girl. The amount due is higher than his portion of rent.

“How?” he squeaks.

“There must be a draft somewhere,” Kyungsoo shrugs.

“Jinki said space heaters will be good for our rooms and in the bathroom,” Taemin says, after turning his head so his cheek rests on the table.

(Wow. He's really pretty. Uh oh. Has he noticed Jongin staring?!)

And so, the heaters are turned off at the beginning of November.

It's not that bad.

The space heaters warm the three locations easily, and the rest of the apartment might turn their breaths into puff clouds, but it's not unbearable. They all wear more layers, and Jongin is relieved that Taemin stopped walking around shirtless. He's a little disappointed that Kyungsoo looks cute in the sweaters he steals from Chanyeol in revenge, but he's lived with that for a year. He can almost ignore it. (The guilt is a little harder, but he's managing.)

Things are fine.

“It's the insulation,” Chanyeol explains. “The building is super old.”

Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Jongdae rent an apartment in the same building, #20C. It's on the twentieth floor, at the very top, so they don't have a warped floor. They do have tons of stairs to climb, but they also have white walls. (He's not guilty. It was an _accident._ )

Kyungsoo stares at Chanyeol with eyes that promise pain. Jongin smiles as brightly as he can. The frat tries to meet once a week to talk about things that need to be talked about like what they're doing for winter charity this year, how the new house is coming along, and read the letters from Luhan and Minseok that are sent every week. The two men deciding before the fire to travel together for a year around the world. It's a good excuse to eat food and with so many bodies in one place, it's almost warm.

“Do you guys have a problem with mold?” Baekhyun frowns. “We keep finding it in our bathroom.”

Kyungsoo turns his glare to him instead, and Jongin tries not to cringe. Sehun is weak, and he flinches. (Sehun needs to keep it together.) Kyungsoo is terrifying when he's pissed.

“For the last time, it wasn't our fireworks. We've been framed!” Jongdae sulks.

Jongin and Sehun stare very intently at the table.

“No one believes you guys,” Yifan says, exasperated. It's been an ongoing thing. (It’s too bad Jongdae is totally justified in his beliefs, but some things can never come to light. Ever.) “But we decided to forgive you assholes anyways. Now, shut up.”

“I'm going to find whose fault it really is!” Jongdae declares.

Jongin and Sehun exchange a look and they look away. Jongin fiddles with his hoodie strings. Sehun stares so intensely at Joonmyun he's either in love with him or wants to kill him.

With Sehun it's sometimes hard to tell.

(It's a miracle they haven't been caught yet.)

They come back to #16D to find it somewhat warmer than they left it. The air is sweet like baked goods, and Jongin prepares for the worst. Taemin doesn't have the best record when it comes to cooking. (The poor ceiling. Taemin is good at a lot of things, like running five miles without stopping, but he should stay out of the kitchen.) Kyungsoo doesn't even pause and goes straight to investigate the kitchen. (Fearless. Jongin wishes they were still at the frat house with a bunch of other guys to distract him from how _awesome_ Kyungsoo is.)

Jongin gathers his courage and follows.

And hey--

“Kibum!” Jongin greets in relief.

The older man, by two years Taemin said offhand one night, finishes scrapping cookies off a flat pan. He looks up and smirks. (Kibum makes Jongin nervous. It's like he knows every filthy thought he's ever had about Taemin.) Kibum, much like Taemin, is pretty in a way that makes Jongin confused. He's delicate like a razor edge, and maybe that's Jongin's poetry class talking. All Jongin knows for sure is Kibum is one of Taemin's absolute favorite people.

“You made cookies,” Kyungsoo says, eyes narrowed. “Why?”

(Kyungsoo is kind of paranoid. Any baking back at the frat house was immediately suspected of being “special.” Jongin spent an hour holding on to the carpet after eating an innocent brownie hanging out in the kitchen because he was so afraid of falling off the ground.)

“Because I don’t want to be the only sweet thing in your lives,” Taemin winks, his hands busy with icing and cookies.

Jongin swallows, and he looks to Kyungsoo for guidance. The older student is frowning at all the cookies on display. Maybe Kyungsoo didn't hear Taemin? (Maybe Kyungsoo didn't give a fuck?) Kibum doesn't look up from his task either. Maybe Jongin is hearing things?

First, the curse makes him live in this terrible place. Second, it drives him crazy by dangling his hot roommates in front of him. He's going to have a nervous breakdown.

“Jonghyun and Minho wanted some,” Kibum snorts, eyes sparkling. “And your oven is bigger.”

“You guys made a lot,” Jongin says at last.

(Maybe it's his imagination, but he thinks Taemin smirks.) Jongin steps behind Kyungsoo presses his face into the elder’s shoulder to hide his blush. Kyungsoo doesn't react, but he also doesn't elbow Jongin. It's almost a win.

Cookies of all kinds cover every inch of counter space available, which isn't a lot, but there's also cookies on top of the fridge and an open cupboard displays cookies, too. Jongin's mouth waters. He sees frosted sugar cookies, snickerdoodles, chocolate chip, thumbprints…

“Using the oven will help warm this place up,” Kibum says. “Take some.”

“Kibum went overboard,” Taemin says. “He said, I kid you not, “It's so cold I'm surprised your balls haven't fall off, yet.” But the cookies are good. Kibum’s pretty good at baking, so we're good.” He grins impishly at Kibum (and oh, Jongin's heart is skipping beats, noooooo).

Kibum rolls his eyes.

“That's nice of you guys,” Kyungsoo says, and he grabs a sugar cookie to munch on.

Jongin is surprised when Kyungsoo holds a cookie over his shoulder for Jongin to take, and it's with wary eyes on Taemin, who licks his lips, that he accepts it with a bite.

(Jongin brings half the cookies to Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Jongdae’s to soothe some of his guilt.)

The month continues, and more layers are added on. Kibum teaches them the basics of how to make bread, even if their attempts are pretty awful. (Yifan, in a surprising turn of events, tells them it's because they're adding too much baking powder.) The important thing is the oven is on (and Kyungsoo kneads bread instead of killing cockroaches named after their frat brothers), and it's slightly warmer in the main part of their apartment because _frost_ starts forming on their three windows.

(It's penance, Jongin thinks morosely.)

Joonmyun knits everyone (ugly and misshapen) socks as part of his anger management, and Jongin takes to wearing his over another pair at all times. There's times he's positive his toes are going to walk off without him it's so cold. Taemin only quirks his lips and then shows off his own (ugly and misshapen) socks.

“Jonghyun taught himself how to crochet last year. He doesn’t sleep,” Taemin explains.

Kyungsoo shuffles past them with his Joonmyun made socks on his hands and straight to the coffee pot in the kitchen. Jongin doesn't even like coffee and he wants a cup to warm him up. Why does the Earth need to get cold? Everyone should get together to make it a giant sock.

(He's a little irrational early in the mornings.)

The ice on the windows can be ignored. It's not the end of the world or anything. It's completely normal. “Chanyeol said the windows aren't insulated,” Baekhyun said one night, completely baffled. “I think he was a handyman in a past life.”

What can't be ignored are the pipes freezing.

(Jongin BELIEVES he’s cursed with every fiber of his being.)

“I hate this fucking place,” Kyungsoo mutters.

“Kyungsoo?”

In the almost two years Jongin has known Kyungsoo, he’s never heard the older student swear, excluding the incident that occurred where their frat house burned down. (He does his best to be as vague as possible about all those events in dim hope everyone will forget about it. It’s not a strategy that’s working, but he had to try something.) Kyungsoo's eyes widen in slight surprise, and Jongin gets the impression Kyungsoo didn’t intend to say what he did out loud. This is a new development.

(Do the brothers know? He should tell them. He’s going to tell Sehun, and essentially, it’s the same thing.)

“I didn't think you swore,” Taemin says, gazing curiously at Kyungsoo.

“I don't,” Kyungsoo says, a blush tinting his cheeks pink.

( _How pretty._ )

“It's hot,” Taemin grins.

(Taemin doesn't mean it like that. He flirts with everybody. Remember when Jinki and Jonghyun came over for dinner? This is just like that. Taemin isn't hitting on Kyungsoo. He can't be.)

Jongin blushes, too.

(Because what if Taemin _is?_ That'd be… That'd get something Jongin doesn't even have words to describe.)

“Thank you, but we still have no water,” Kyungsoo says.

Jongin envies Kyungsoo. His face is still pink, but his voice doesn't give it away at all. It's all smooth and controlled. Jongin keeps his mouth shut because he's sure he'll either trip over his words and Taemin will tease him, or he’ll admit something embarrassing.

(Like how awesome it would be to see Taemin and Kyungsoo kiss a little.)

“Think your friends upstairs have water?” Taemin frowns, looking up at the ceiling like he can see through four floors.

It's cute, and Jongin desperately needs a cold shower.

“Not my friends,” Kyungsoo grumbles, and he looks up with a glare, like he hopes the guys will feel it and quake.

And that's cute, too.

Jongin needs to beat a retreat.

“I'll go check!” Jongin says.

He hurries out of the bathroom and out of the apartment. He pretends not to hear Kyungsoo shout after him, “We could just call them!” He takes the four flights of stairs as an opportunity to stop perving on his roommates.

Jongin knocks on the door, and he doesn't stop knocking. Chanyeol has been known to sleep through anything. Jongdae sleeps with his headphones in. And sure enough, Baekhyun opens the door with enough force Jongin immediately pastes on his best smile.

(He doesn't want to die, but it is seven a.m. on a school day. Don't these guys have classes?)

_"What?_ ”

“Sorry to wake you up, but our pipes froze! We were wondering if your guys’s did, too?” Jongin says.

Baekhyun softens slightly, but only enough for him to leave the door open while he walks away to check his faucets. Jongin follows him in, and it's with a sinking stomach, he watches Baekhyun fail to turn on the water. Baekhyun frowns and turns the water all what should be full blast.

With a growl of frustration, Baekhyun stalks towards the bathroom.

“You've got to be kidding me!” he shouts.

Jongin winces. Baekhyun heads towards his and Chanyeol’s room (and Jongin and Sehun have always been curious about what goes on in there. They always share a room, and Jongdae didn't always sleep in the one he shared with them at the frat house. He usually slept in Yixing’s or Kyungsoo’s.). Shortly after, he hears Chanyeol’s deep groan of protest followed by a loud, “THUMP.”

“Something is wrong with the water! Get up!”

“Baek, seriously,” Chanyeol grumbles.

He stumbles into view, and Jongin waves. Chanyeol doesn't even blink and waves back. It makes Jongin miss the busy energy of the frat house so much. He couldn't turn in that house without bumping into someone.

(Stupid rioters and their arson-y. Even dumber fireworks that _destroyed_ the house. Damn guilt trying to eat him alive.)

“There's no water, Chanyeol. Fix it,” Baekhyun demands.

“Baek, I've told you, I can't fix everything,” Chanyeol swats at Baekhyun.

It makes Jongin notice for the first time that their apartment is infinitely warmer than the one he shares with Taemin and Kyungsoo. There's fleece blankets duct taped over the windows, and a humidifier near a space heater in the living room.

“Especially if the pipes are frozen,” Chanyeol frowns. “Why are the pipes frozen? That should all be internal… Baekhyun, call the maintenance guy. Someone gone fucked up.” Chanyeol twists the knobs, and grins wryly at Jongin, “I'd find somewhere else to get ready for class if I were you.”

Baekhyun and Jongin sigh in unison.

 

 

 

 

“Kibum's going to cry,” Taemin warns. “But Jinki will make us breakfast, so it evens out.” 

The pipes are frozen, a fact confirmed by their maintenance man and landlord. Something about work being done over the summer and the exposures never being insulated and covered. Taemin stopped paying attention after they said it would take a few hours to fix. He knew what that meant.

Returning home.

“Will he really cry?” Jongin asks, looking overly worried about that.

It’s _Kibum._ They should be used to his dramatics by now. At least Kyungsoo doesn’t look concerned. Maybe it’s Jongin? He does seem a little sensitive.  

“Maybe,” Taemin shrugs. “He worries a lot. If you ask him, we live in the slums.”

“Well, he's not exactly wrong,” Kyungsoo murmurs.

“We live in a palace,” Taemin jokes back.

Taemin grins. Kyungsoo has a dry humor that he likes. It reminds him of Kibum, a little. At first Taemin thought Kyungsoo was a stick in the mud, and then as Kyungsoo became more comfortable his filter disappeared. Taemin loves it. Kyungsoo always looks faintly perturbed when Taemin responds to something Kyungsoo says.

Taemin unlocks the front door with his key because Jonghyun insisted he keep it while sniffling back tears. Home immediately embraces him and his roommates with warmth and the smells of breakfast. Taemin eagerly steps in, and after noticing Jongin's and Kyungsoo's hesitance, he tugs them both into the apartment.

Kibum's remodeled recently is his immediate thought. Everything looks kitschy rather than modern and smooth like the last he was here. His second thought is Jinki made bacon. Taemin bounces on his toes. _Food._

“Honey, you're home!” Jonghyun notices first.

Jonghyun moves quick to embrace Taemin, and it's been a few weeks since Taemin's seen him, so he allows the tight hug where Jonghyun rubs their cheeks together. It's one thing to receive Jonghyun’s texts about his amusing or rude listeners, and another to have Jonghyun in front of him. He missed it more than he thought.

Damn it.

Jonghyun pulls away, and he chuckles softly and helps Taemin rub the sudden moisture in his eyes away. Jonghyun doesn't draw any more attention to his upset, and Taemin isn't hopeful enough that his eyes will be clear enough Kibum won't notice something is up. That man knows how Taemin feels usually before he does.

“And you guys must be Jongin and Kyungsoo!” Jonghyun greets, and he hugs both of Taemin's new roommates.

 Jongin squeaks in surprise, which makes Taemin grin. Kyungsoo awkwardly pats Jonghyun on the back in the universe signal for tap out. That makes Taemin snicker.

 Jonghyun moves from hugging the two to having an arm around each of their waists as he leads them towards the kitchen. He mouths, “Who's who?” at Taemin as they pass. It has been awhile since Jonghyun’s been over, hasn’t it? Taemin shrugs.

 Little rebellions.

 Jonghyun rolls his eyes before letting his personality take over the situation:

“Welcome to our home! Jinki made eggs, bacon, and pancakes. I hope you guys are hungry,” Jonghyun says. “You can take turns showering, unless you want to share. We don’t judge in this house.”

Well. That’s a blatant _lie._

Taemin follows them sedately.

Everyone but Kibum is in the kitchen. Minho hands full plates to Jongin and Kyungsoo with a welcoming smile, and Jonghyun pushes them past Jinki at the stove, but not before giving the eldest a theatrical kiss on the cheek, “Thank you for breakfast.” Jonghyun stops them at the drawer of silverware and he hands them both utensils.

Taemin gets a glimpse of his new roommates’ faces and snickers, again. Jongin and Kyungsoo looks so overwhelmed by everything. It's like they've never experienced breakfast before.

“We already made Kibum promise not to say, 'I told you so,'” Minho greets and hands Taemin a plate. “He's out walking the puppy, so you have some time to pretend you weren't crying if you want.”

“Shut up,” Taemin sticks his tongue out.

He grabs the plate and when he passes Jinki, he wraps his arm around Jinki's waist for a quick hug, and he blows in Jinki’s ear. Jinki chuckles, and yeah, this is what being home feels like. Warmth with people he loves.

He finds his roommates at the table looking so helpless and lost, Taemin takes pity on them. He sits next to Jongin and whines to Jonghyun, “Stop interrogating them and let them eat.” Jonghyun shrugs and grins.

“You are growing up,” Jonghyun teases. “You're defending people instead of letting them suffer. It's adorable.”

“Don't make it a thing,” Taemin instructs sternly, but the impact of his order is lost when the front door opens, and the puppy starts to bark.

“Ki! They're here!” Jonghyun calls, and he heads towards the door to greet Kibum. “They're just as cute as you said they were!”

“Cute?” Jongin repeats, blushing.

“Cute?” Kyungsoo echoes likes he's never heard the word before.

“Yeah, cute,” Taemin agrees because the others have taught him to call it as he sees it forever ago.

Kibum says something, but the barking puppy covers up what he says. Whatever it is, Jonghyun laughs loudly. Taemin has his suspicions, but it’s not like he can accuse anyone of shit with Jongin and Kyungsoo next to him. Besides, whatever Kibum said is probably true.

Uncanny fucker.

Taemin gets up to meet them in the kitchen.

"So, whose pants does pretty boy want in?" Jonghyun asks Kibum, like Taemin isn't standing in front of him and rolling his eyes, or that Kyungsoo and Jongin are only in the next room, eating breakfast and listening to Minho complain about yesterday's auditions.

"Both," Kibum says, also ignoring Taemin, too.

Jinki smiles apologetically at Taemin. Taemin puffs his cheeks out like a child. Jonghyun and Kibum always do this. It's one reason Taemin stopped inviting his various "study" and study partners home. They always have something to say.

At least Jinki is on his side.

"It's kind of gross to watch him flirt," Kibum grins, all wicked and sharp. Taemin hates him as much as he adores him.

"Our Taemin? Flirting?" Jonghyun says, absolutely delighted. "Is he any better at it?"

Taemin gives Jinki his best puppy eyes. _Make them stop._ Jinki winces and adds another egg to his plate, too. It's been two and a half years, and Jonghyun still can't get over when Taemin tripped over his tongue and embarrassed himself and his crush into heat spikes. It's not _fair._ Taemin never mentions that time he saw Jonghyun sneaking out of Kibum's room, now does he?

He should sell Jonghyun out. Not that anyone will _care._ With how often everyone in this apartment, excluding Kyungsoo and Jongin, have sexed each other up, no one will find it odd. What was odd was Kibum was at work. Jonghyun did God knows what in there to look so satiated while Kibum was gone _._

"He's not cheesy like this fool," Kibum says, while patting Jinki on the chest. Jinki plays the part, and he grabs Kibum’s hand to kiss it. Kibum bops Jinki's nose with a fond smile. "But he's very blunt."

"One person's subtly is another's sledgehammer," Jonghyun shrugs.

"That's what's funny, Jonghyun. Taemin isn't blunt enough," Kibum says, unholy gleam in his eyes.

"Taemin not blunt enough?" Jinki asks, both eyebrows raised.

Jinki's probably remembering the first time Taemin decided to pick his roommate up at a party with the line:

"I was feeling a little off today, but you definitely turned me on."

The main thing Taemin feels everyone should remember, somewhat defensively, is that it worked. Jinki's may have stared at Taemin in disbelief before laughing, but Taemin ended up crawling out of Jinki's bed the following afternoon. There's something to be said for being blunt and direct.

Kibum shakes his head.

"He told Kyungsoo, "Your body is 65% water and I'm thirsty." You know what Kyungsoo did? He gave Minnie a bottle of water and walked off," Kibum snickers.

"No," Jonghyun gasps, delighted.

"Poor baby," Jinki says. "Should have gone with the "nice shoes, wanna fuck" one."

Jonghyun, Kibum, and Jinki laugh. Gentle amusement that puts a few years back on Taemin's lifespan. It doesn't mean his pride will stand for it.

Little rebellions.

"I'm going to eat in the dining room," Taemin says, indigent.

It's a sore point with him that Kyungsoo ignored him. Taemin can handle rejection. What he's not sure he can handle is Kyungsoo not even noticing. Kyungsoo internalizes everything to the point Taemin takes delight in Kyungsoo's obvious slips in control.

Like the swearing.

Taemin is a little embarrassed how much that excites him. He's willing to bet his bus pass that Kyungsoo would be awesome at dirty talk. While Kyungsoo doesn't even seem to notice Taemin's obvious flirting, Jongin notices, blushes, and then acts like everything is normal.

Taemin is starting to run out of pick-up lines. His new roommates are exhausting.

“Hurry up and eat! Taemin still has to go to class!” Jinki orders.

The guys following Taemin into the dining room, and it's normally only set up for five people. There's a lack of seating. Not that it bothers Taemin. He shrugs and sits next to Jongin, by which he means almost in the other man's lap. Jongin's left hand flies to Taemin's hip, while he turns pink and looks around the table.

Jonghyun winks at Taemin. Minho frowns thoughtfully before grabbing Jinki with an insistent, "You can sit with me." Kibum raises an eyebrow at how Kyungsoo doesn't react, and Taemin knows if he hadn't expressed interest already, Kibum would be giving it a shot.

There is commotion, people talking over each other and the dog barking, makes Taemin hums and relax. He’s missed Jinki’s breakfasts. It never happened often, usually only on exam days, but they were worth the wait. Besides him, Jongin shifts and starts picking at his plate. He keeps darting his eyes to the pictures on the walls.

Taemin’s favorite is the one from his nineteenth birthday with everyone looking completely wrecked, and the other items Kibum insisted on displaying like Jinki’s academic awards, Jonghyun’s radio reviews, and flyers from Minho’s plays.

Kyungsoo blinks a few times at his surroundings before focusing on eating. Taemin’s learned in the past four months that the guy internalizes _a lot._ He’s curious on how to make Kyungsoo loosen up enough to tell everyone exactly what he’s thinking. 

Kibum sits in front of Taemin, chin resting on his folded hands, with mischief in his eyes. He’s changed his hair, too. It’s a shock of black when the past few years it's been anything but. It’s a good look for him. He must be trying to switch jobs, again.

“Ready to move back in yet?” Kibum asks, and his eyes slide to Jongin and Kyungsoo. “We’ll even take in the strays. Jonghyun can share a room with me and Jinki. You share with Minho, and they can have your old room.”

“You mean Jonghyun doesn’t already share your guys’ room?” Minho quips as he sits down.

“Hush,” Jonghyun scowls. “Ki is negotiating.”

“Kibummie,” Jinki scolds. “Don’t pressure him.” Jinki smiles warmly, and once again, Jinki is Taemin’s favorite. “But the offer always stands. Just so you know.”

“Thank you,” Jongin says, voice almost impossible to hear.

Kyungsoo doesn’t say anything. His eyes are thoughtful, though, and Taemin gets the feeling Kyungsoo is genuinely considering it.

The past four months have been rough.

Taemin is incredibly tempted to say yes. They guys could have them all moved out by the end of the day, and he’d be back among his friends. Where he probably belongs. He wouldn’t even feel bad for abandoning his new roommates since they’d be coming along. It’d be perfect but--

“Maybe,” Taemin settles on. “If anything else terrible happens.”

Something holds him back.

“Our brothers would probably make a big deal out of it,” Kyungsoo finally says. “But thank you.”

“Your brothers?” Kibum asks, shifting his attention to Kyungsoo.

For the first time, Kyungsoo looks slightly ruffled. Taemin doesn’t blame. Kibum has that look on his face. The one where he scoffs at obstacles and continues to do what he wants. If what Kibum really wants is to bring Taemin, Jongin, and Kyungsoo into his home, Taemin might as well start packing their things now. He’s actually relying on Jinki to restrain Kibum.

“You guys are related?” Jonghyun asks.

“Our frat brothers,” Jongin says.

“Oh?” Kibum says, not at all innocently, but Jongin and Kyungsoo don’t know Kibum like Taemin does. “What frat?”

“Sigma Mu,” Kyungsoo says.

“The same frat that burnt their house down?” Minho frowns.

“It was the rioters!” Jongin says.

“I heard it was the fireworks that did the most damage,” Jinki says.

Jongin looks helplessly at Taemin, like Taemin can rescue him, and Kyungsoo makes noises of agreement. “That would be us. Confirmed arsonists.”

“I heard your entire frat was also arrested for assault,” Jonghyun frowns, looking uneasy from Taemin to Jongin to Kyungsoo.

“Those bastards deserved it,” Kyungsoo says, fiercely.

Taemin grins down the table at him. There’s the swearing again. It’s so unexpected that the guys blink, taken aback. Jongin even turns to Kyungsoo in surprise. Come on, Kyungsoo doesn’t look that innocent and adorable.

“Huh,” Kibum says. Taemin smiles at him. Kibum’s eyes are laughing, so Taemin doesn’t think Kibum is going to force him away from the criminal element but-- “At least we know you guys can start a fire if you get too cold.”

Jonghyun bursts out laughing, and Jinki snorts into his food.

“And that Kyungsoo can defend your asses if anyone breaks in,” Minho adds. “I was worried about that. Taemin is so little--”

“Shut up!” Taemin whines.

The visit home goes better than Taemin thought it would. There’s the awkward moment when Minho decided to ask Jongin about Taemin’s stripping tendencies that made turned him red and wheezy, but it’s not like Taemin is surprised. Jongin isn’t subtle when he stares.

Kyungsoo is sneakier.

“Why would you ever move out?” Jongin demands on the bus to the university.

Taemin hums and adjusts his bag. He knew that question would come sooner or later. The guys still baby him blocks away. Jonghyun might not see him for weeks at a time, but Minho meets Taemin up at the gym, and Jinki is the one most likely to bring enough takeout for everyone to eat before heading home. Kibum routinely comes by for Taemin’s, and eventually Jongin’s and Kyungsoo’s laundry, that it was only a matter of time.

And it’s hard to put into words.

It’s only a matter of time before Studio Ghibli or another big name like Disney recognizes Jinki’s talent and steals him. Kibum’s proficiency with languages is a force to be reckoned with, and he’s better than the tourist guide company he’s with. He’s bound to move on to something better. Jonghyun spends so much time at the radio studios it’s a wonder he has time to sleep in Kibum’s and Jinki’s room at all. He’s slowly tripling his fan base, and there’s talk of him moving to a daytime slot. And Minho’s getting more and more callbacks.

Taemin is at university studying music theory.

He’s going to die broke.

“I wanted to find my place in the world, I guess,” Taemin ends up shrugging.

“Pretty sure your place is in that apartment,” Kyungsoo says.

Taemin frowns and rubs his sternum, trying to ignore the ache there.

 

 

 

 

 

There comes a time in a man’s life when he knows how completely fucked he is, and the pipe bursting in the apartment above is such a time in Taemin’s life. 

It starts with gentle dripping of water on his face while he’s sleeping. Taemin groans and swats at Minho, the most likely culprit. The bastard and his pranks… And then Taemin remembers that Minho is asleep blocks away, and his eyes spring open. The water is coming from the huge water stain above his bed.

He blinks at it a few times, sleepy and confused. The water stain is a lot bigger than it was last night. He doesn’t have much time to gather his rational thinking before the dripping turns into a steady drip. Taemin rolls over and off the bed. What. Why is this happening. His feet have barely touched the bedroom floor when the ceiling starts dripping with intensity of a small rainstorm.

This--

This is something Taemin can’t handle right now.

He stumbles out of his room and to the bathroom. He just needs to wake up a little bit, and then he’ll deal with whatever is going on in his room. Things will be fine. It’s an old building and--

“You have to be kidding me,” Taemin says, eyes wide in disbelief.

Water is leaking from the bathroom ceiling above the shower. Pieces of white shit are floating on the water that’s decided to flood the damn bathroom. Almost absently, Taemin realizes that the bathroom flooding from that point in the ceiling must have happened before. This is more than what he signed up for.

Kibum can’t ever know.

EVER.

On autopilot, Taemin looks for the phone number to call the landlord. He sighs as he remembers Kyungsoo had it last for when the pipes froze yesterday, and he heads towards Jongin’s and Kyungsoo’s room. He knocks on their closed door with his forehead pressed against the door, wishing he was still in bed. Or dead.

“Hmm?” Kyungsoo blinks.

Taemin’s bad mood evaporates slightly at the sight of Kyungsoo’s wild bed head and black sleeping clothes. He looks lost and confused. It’s too easy to take it a step further to fucked out, and Taemin resists the urge to leer. This is not the time. Important business needs to be taken care of.

Later, he reminds himself, and he feels grown up. Jinki would definitely agree that he is growing as a person. By a few inches. Heh.

“I need the number for the landlord,” Taemin says.

“Hmm’kay,” Kyungsoo nods, and he leaves the door to rustle around in the darkness.

Taemin looks at what he can of the bedroom. Jongin is sprawled on his twin bed with a beanie pulled over his face and his sweater and shirt pulled up his stomach. Taemin huffs in amusement. As much as he appreciates the view, Jongin is too shy to show off his abs on purpose, Jongin wouldn’t be so cold if he slept under the blankets. The room is neat with a clear divide between Jongin’s side and Kyungsoo’s side. Taemin eyes Kyungsoo’s bed, it’s probably warm, and it would be easier to roll in bed with Kyungsoo and forget about the minor emergency in his room and bathroom. He’s tempted. Kyungsoo looks sleepy and confused enough that Taemin could get away with it.

Kyungsoo yawns, and when he passes Jongin, he pulls the man’s clothing down. Taemin is disappointed, but with how his night is going so far, he isn’t all that surprised.

“Here,” Kyungsoo says, and he hands Taemin the paper with apartment’s emergency contact information.

“Thanks,” Taemin says, pleased. Maybe he’ll have this issue resolved soon and things would be fine and dandy shortly. “You should go back to bed before I crawl in there with you.”

“That’d be fine,” Kyungsoo says, and Taemin snickers. He highly doubts Kyungsoo meant to say that. He probably didn’t even realize he did.

Rather than take advantage of his sleepy roommate, Taemin goes to the kitchen to make his phone call. The landlord is unsurprised and frazzled. He gives Taemin a short explanation about a water line bursting due to them freezing previously, and Taemin doesn’t care. He wants to go to bed. He could always move his bed over or sleep in the living room he supposes. Except--

_“We need access to your bathroom to fix the source of the problem,”_ the landlord says.

“Right now?”

Taemin drifts to the bathroom to stare at the leaking water. Should he have the light on? Will that electrocute him and cause a fire? He frowns. He really wanted to go back to bed.

“I just realized I should ask you why you needed the landlord’s phone number,” Kyungsoo mumbles.

_“Sorry, kid, but we think the source is the apartment above yours. The tenants moved out of it without warning this month and made a fucking mess,”_ the landlord agrees.

Taemin looks over his shoulder. Kyungsoo is approaching him at a zombie shuffle while rubbing his eyes. It’s adorable. Taemin makes a noise that he’s listening to the landlord, but he’s really wondering if he ever looked as helpless and wounded as Kyungsoo does as he looks at the bathroom.

“Motherfucking no!” Kyungsoo whines. “No! This is not allowed!”

Probably not.

Taemin smirks. The landlord immediately continues his promises to have the pipes fixed as soon as possible. The man can probably hear Kyungsoo’s building tirade.

“A plumber will be there right away, but you should probably stay with friends for the rest of the night,” the landlord adds.

“One sec,” Taemin says. He presses the phone to his shoulder to mute it. “They’re sending someone to fix it now, but they need in here. We have to go somewhere else.”

“Damn it,” Kyungsoo swears. “GOD DAMN IT! Fine.”

“It’s still very hot when you swear,” Taemin can’t help but hit on Kyungsoo a little. “You should do it more.”

“If this place continues to be a shithole I will,” Kyungsoo grumbles. “I’m going to wake up Jongin. If we’re awake, his bitch ass is awake.”

Grinning, Taemin calls after him, “You’re very attractive right now!”

Kyungsoo flips him off.

“Yeah, okay, we’ll see your guy soon,” Taemin confirms.

Jongin sits with Taemin on the couch while Kyungsoo speaks talks the plumber, maintenance man, and landlord with his arms crossed and doom on his face. Taemin watches the four of them from the couch, Jongin next to him, and Taemin grins. It’s “interesting” to see the man go from sleepily confused to pissed off. How much does Kyungsoo repress in a single day?

Jongin cuddles his pillow with a pitiful expression. He’s warm, and Taemin appreciates his body heat. He even smells nice, musk with fading undertones of cologne. Taemin tries to think of a good excuse to put Jongin’s arm around his shoulders, but inspiration is lacking.

“I think this is my fault,” Jongin shares miserably. “I'm cursed.”

Taemin squeezes Jongin’s knee. If Jongin wants to take responsibility for everything that’s fine by him. Jongin groans, and slouches until he can rest his head on Taemin’s shoulder. Taemin should wake his roommates up in the middle of the night more often. It comes with cuddling perks.

“So, we can’t tell Kibum,” Taemin says. “Or any of my friends. They’ll freak.”

“If I wasn’t cursed, I’d let them adopt me,” Jongin says, whiny.

Kyungsoo says something to their landlord before heading towards the couch. He looks tired and angry, all understandable. He throws himself next to Jongin, and Jongin is immediately squished against Taemin’s side. He doesn’t purr, but only because that’s Kibum’s thing.

“Landlord said we can stay with Baekhyun and them. No one will have water while they fix it, but at least it’s somewhere to sleep,” Kyungsoo mumbles, and he closes his eyes.

The layout of #20C is the same as #16D, but that’s where the similarities end. The walls are lightly colored, and it makes the apartment look bigger. Taemin’s suffered through enough of Kibum’s redecorating to know how it all works. #20C is also warmer, too. If an apartment could give a hug, Taemin imagines this is how it would feel.

“One of you can sleep on the couch, and the other two can sleep on the airbed,” Jongdae yawns.

“Thank you,” the boys chorus.

The couch is an ugly monstrosity that was most likely liberated from a sidewalk. But Taemin is willing to give his roommates the benefit the doubt. They did survive breakfast with his friends, and Taemin is a firm believer that his friends are scarier than Sigma Mu can ever hope to be.

Except Kyungsoo grabs him by the hood the second Jongdae leaves the living room, mumbling a, “Goodnight.”

“You don't want to do that,” Kyungsoo says.

“Isn't that--?” Jongin asks, eyeing the couch suspiciously.

“The reason the frat house had to be fumigated four times?” Kyungsoo finishes. “Yes. Why didn't it die in the fire?”

“Minseok made them put it in storage, remember?”

The air mattress is a full size, and Taemin has his doubts. Jongin claims on side of the bed, and Kyungsoo sighs, long suffering and tired, before declaring the middle as his spot. It leaves only the other side for Taemin. It’s a tight squeeze with everyone on their sides. Taemin only hopes he isn’t accidentally pushed off the bed.

And so Taemin ends up in bed with Jongin and Kyungsoo. It's not the exact situation he envisioned, but it's somewhat progress.

Jongin sleeps on his back, limbs stretched out, and Taemin never appreciated how big the younger student was until now. Kyungsoo sleeps in the middle as he's the least likely to push someone off in the middle of the night. Taemin takes Kyungsoo's reassurance to koala the hell out of him, so he doesn't fall off the edge when Jongin decides to starfish. It's not comfortable, but it is exactly what Taemin needed after a shitty night.

He falls asleep faster than he expects.


End file.
